Ira Lipson, owner of Southpaw Knives, is a a lefty. He said he got frustrated that a good portion of the knives he was using were tailored to right-handed folks. Lispson constantly found himself tearing the knives apart and altering them to his specs. He eventually got fed up with the process and started Southpaw Knives.

A a retired U.S. Army Warrant Officer, all of Ira’s knives are one of a kind, built by hand. He also stresses to prospective buyers that he puts a working edge on his knives, not a shaving edge. He sharpens them by hand on a belt grinder. All of his knives and sheathes can be made for either left or right hand use.

Ira has many new additions to his line. Two of these are the Animus and Fat Cat (above); others include the Defiant Proto , SN001 and the the Recondo and Recondo Tactical (first and second images, respectively, below).

The most prominent features of Ira’s Southpaw folders are that they come standard with solid bearings for smooth and reliable action, stainless blades for years of maintenance-free use and a precision-adjusted pivot screw that is tuned to provide the user with a blade that glides into position with no adjustment required.

Southpaw Knives was featured in Tactical Knives magazine in 2009 and have been used in theaters of operation all around the globe.